

















































* 









































































































































































































































































































































. 






















































































t 
















; 


/ 


















» 


$ 










































































JJarft Efjorn’s Untfe. — JFronttBpt'erc. 


“ I think some one stole it while I was in the pond,” 
in a loud, harsh voice. 


said Jack, 
p. 18. 





JACK THORN’S KNIFE: 


HOW HE LOST IT, AND HOW HE FOUND IT. 


IN SHORT WORDS. 


PHILADELPHIA : 

AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION, 
1122 Chestnut Street. 


New York : No. 8 and 10 Bible House, Astor Place. 


PZ7 

•J73/ 

Cif>l4 1 


Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871 , by the 
AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



Westcott & Thomson, 

Stereotypers, Philada. 


Henry B. Ashmead, 
Printer, Philada. 


CONTENTS. 


PART l 

PAGE 

Jack Thorn’s Knife 7 

PART II. 

The Play-day 12 

PART IIP 

On the Hill 22 

PART IV. 

Good Words 34 

PART V. 

The End of School 41 

PART VI. 

Out of School . . . . 53 

PART VII. 

Jack Goes Wrong 62 

l* 5 


6 


CONTENTS, 


part vin. 

PAGE 

The Night Walk 71 

PART IX. 1 

How it Turned Out 82 

PART X. 

Jack Goes Home 91 

PART XI. 

Help for the Poor 99 

PART XH. 

Ralph at Home 109 

PART XHI. 


Good-Bye 


118 


Jack Thorn’s Knife. 


PAET I. 

JACK THORN’S HOME. 

N a small town in the State of New 
York there lived a man whose 
name was John Thorn. His wife 
was called Mrs. Thorn, and they 
had two boys and three girls, whose names 
we shall learn as we go on. 

They lived in a plain white house with 
green blinds, and in the spring the vines 
that climbed up its sides, and that had 
been brown and dry since the fall, turned 
to a bright green, and the house peeped 
out from them. 

, In the front yard there was more than 
one rose bush ; these bloomed in June, 

7 



8 


JACK THORNES KNIFE. 


and were as sweet as sweet could be ; and 
near them grew pinks, sweet-peas, blue- 
bells, and some plants that I cannot tell the 
names of. There was one small bed all 
full of stocks, which had such a strong 
scent when they were in bloom that you 
could smell them quite far up the street. 

In this yard might be seen a few fine 
old oak and elm trees, from two of which 
hung a stout rope swing that was used 
by girls, and boys too, and made a great 
deal of sport. When they all came home 
from school, the first thing they did was 
to go to this swing and have some fun 
till their mother called them into the 
house. 

These trees were not all. There were 
two or three of spruce and pine, whose 
leaves did not turn brown and fall off 
when the cold blasts nipped them, but 
were green all the year round. When 
the ground was white with snow, their 
rich, dark hue made the place look gay 
and bright. So you see it was a home 


JACK THORN’S HOME. 


9 


“ not to be sneezed at,” as some queer 
old folks say. 

In front of the hall door was a porch 
where the Thorns, old and young, used 
to sit and talk when the work of the day 
was done ; or if a few friends stopped to 
have a chat with the old folks, and the 
porch was too small for all of them, the * 
young ones would have a fine game of 
romps out in the yard. As long as the 
air was warm and mild they kept up 
this kind of life, but when it grew sharp 
and the frost came, they were glad to go 
into the house, and shut the door, and 
sit round the blaze of a good warm fire, 
and watch the flame as it rose and fell, or 
the sparks that snapped out, and went 
up in bright points of light. Now and 
then a few coals would fall, not on the 
hearth, which was the right place for 
them, but on the best rug ; and then how 
the girls and boys would jump to pick 
them up, so that they should not have a 
chance to burn large holes ! In the town 


10 


JACK THORN’S KNIFE. 


of Stowe, where they lived, wood was 
cheap and coal was dear, so of course 
wood was used all through the place. 

Back of the house was a large shed, 
where great piles of round logs lay, not 
split up, but just as they were hauled in 
from the woods. It was too hard work 
for the boys to saw them, so Mr. Thorn 
did that, and his son Jack, who was 
twelve years old, split them at odd times 
when he was not in school. Ned, the 
next son, who was but eight, was thought 
too young to do much of this work, but 
he could cut up the small pine sticks that 
were used to light the fires, and he did 
it well, too. 

But it is time to speak of the girls, who 
must not be left out of sight. Grace was 
not quite ten years old, but was tall and 
well grown for her age; Buth was six, 
and a great pet with her father ; but the 
one that they all loved best was wee, 
round, fat Dot, who was but three years 
old. Her name was Jane, but she was 


JACK THORNES HOME. 11 

called Dot for fun, and would not have 
known whom you meant if you had not 
used this pet name when you spoke to 
her. She had large blue eyes, a round 
face, and cheeks as red as a June rose. 
Her hair looked like threads of gold, and 
hung on her neck in soft curls. She was 
too young to go to school, so she stayed 
at home and plagued her mother a good 
deal in the course of the day, but she 
meant no harm by her tricks, and when 
she had done what gave pain, she would 
purse up her lips for a kiss, and look so 
sweet that no one could turn from her. 

Now that I have told you the names 
of these friends of ours, and where they 
lived, I think I must go on and tell you 
what took place there one bright May 
day a few years back. 


PAET II. 


THE PLAY-DAY. 

N the same street, and quite near 
them, lived Jack’s friend, Sam 
Hoyt, a lad of his own age, who 
spent much of his time at Mr. 
Thorn’s house. On the last day of the 
week, when the boys were let out of 
school at noon, and had all the rest of 
the day to play (if they chose, and had 
no work to do), Sam came home with 
Jack, so as to have some sport. 

“You must not go to your play till 
you have done your work, Jack,” said 
Mr. Thorn as he saw the boys pass 
through the house to the back yard. 
“You know that is one of my rules — 
work first, then play. We must have 

wood that will last for two days to cook 
12 



THE PLAY-DAY. 


13 


with. It will not take you more than an 
hour to cut it, if you are smart.” 

“ I’ll help you, Jack,” said Sam, and 
threw off his coat as he spoke. “ Oh, you 
have but one axe ! Hold on ! I will run 
home and get ours.” 

While Sam was gone, Jack took out 
his knife to cut a small piece of stick to 
make the axe fast to its helve, which was 
so loose that he feared it might drop out. 
This knife was the pride of Jack’s heart, 
and had been a gift from his aunt Sue 
on his last birth-day. He took great 
care of it, and meant to keep it as long 
as he lived. 

When Sam came back with his axe, 
the two boys set to work with a good will, 
and soon had a pile of nice, smooth 
sticks laid up for the cook-stove. Mrs. 
Thorn came out to look at them, and 
said there was all the wood she should 
want till the first of the next week. 

Then the boys were free to play as 
soon as they could make up their minds 
2 


14 


JACK THORNES KNIFE. 


what they wished to do. There was a 
pond not far off, and the man who owned 
it kept a small row-boat which he let out 
to those who liked such sport, hut would 
not give them leave to fish in his pond, 
as he used it to raise fish for sale. Now, 
he knew Jack and Sam to be good boys, 
who would not bring their fish-lines and 
drop them in when they thought no one 
coulH see them, as some boys would, 
so he let them have his boat when they 
asked for it. Now they thought the best 
thing they could do would be to go and 
take a row. 

When they had dined, and the time 
came for them to start, Ned came out and 
said he would like to go too. They did 
not much like to have Ned join them, for 
he would want to row and do all that they 
did, and he could not do it well — he was 
too small — but they did not like to say 
“No,” for they feared Mr. Thorn might 
blame them if he knew it, and Ned 
would be sure to tell him. So they said, 


THE PLAY-DAY. 


15 


“ Come on, then !” and did not say to 
Ned that they thought it a great bore, 
though they wished he had not known 
of their plan. 

“ Can’t we take a swim while we are 
down there ?” asked Sam. “ The air is 
quite warm to-day.” 

“ To be sure we can,” said Jack. “ Just 
wait till I go up stairs and get some 
things. I won’t be gone long.” So he 
went in, and left Sam and Ned in the 
wood-shed. 

When he came down, the three set out 
on a fast walk, for there was no time to 
be lost if they were to get back by tea- 
time. When they reached the pond, and 
looked to see if the boat was in use, they 
were much vexed to see it filled with 
boys and pushed far out from shore. 

“ We are too late,” said Jack. “ If it 
had not been for that mean old wood, we 
should have got here first, and might 
have had it as well as not.” 

“ Then the rest could not have got it,” 


16 


JACK THORN’S KNIFE. 


said Ned. “They would have lost their 
fun just as we have ours.” 

“Don’t preach,” said Jack, who felt 
cross and did not care to hear good 
words just then. 

“Ned’s right, though, for all that,” 
said Sam, who had a kind heart and 
was glad when the rest of the hoys could 
have a good time. “Our loss is their 
gain, and it’s just as well. Let’s have 
our swim now, and maybe when we come 
out they will have got through and come 
back.” 

So they took off their clothes, laid 
them by a tree on the bank, and plunged 
in. It was just the least bit in the world 
too cool, so they did not stay in long, but 
had a good brisk rub when they came out, 
and then a short run to get warm. The 
boys in the boat were haying a good 
time, and gave no sign that they meant 
to give up their fun, so our three lads 
turned once more to the path that would 
lead them home. 


THE PLAY-DAY. 


17 


“ Where’s my knife?” asked Jack, 
when they had gone on a few steps. 

“ I don't know,” said the two boys in 
a breath. 

“ What knife ?” asked Sam. 

“ My new knife with four blades that 
Aunt Sue gave me last March,” said 
Jack. “I'm sure it was in my clothes 
when I took them off. I should like to 
know what has gone with it since then.” 

“How strange that is!” said Sam. 
“ There was no one near while we were 
in, and you know I came out first, and 
the clothes all lay there just as we threw 
them down. I'm quite sure they could 
not have been touched.” 

“ I saw you lift up Jack's coat the first 
thing you laid hold of,” said Ned. 
“ Maybe it fell out then.” 

“So I did lift it up, for the things 
were all in a heap, and I could not tell 
which were mine till I looked,” said 
Sam. “ Let's go back and hunt it up.” 

They searched on the ground near the 

2 * B 


18 jack thorn’s knife. 

tree, but in vain, for no knife was to be 
seen. 

“ Are you sure you did not leave it at 
home?” asked Sam. “ You may find it 
there yet.” 

“ Yes, I am sure,” said Jack. “ I felt 
it when I took off my coat.” 

“What do you think has gone with 
it?” asked Ned. 

“ I think some one stole it while I was 
in the pond, that’s what I think,” said 
Jack, in a loud, harsh voice. 

Sam felt hurt, as well he might, by 
Jack’s tone and air, but he had too much 
good sense to speak to him in the same 
rude way. Jack strode on in front, and 
did not once look back at him nor. say a 
word on the way home. Sam talked to 
Ned, and when they got home they both 
went into the wood-shed and looked round 
in the chips, but it was not there. 

“ No use in that,” said Jack when he 
saw them at this work. “I took it to 
the pond with me — there’s no doubt of 


THE PLAY-DAY. 


19 


that — and now it’s plain I’ve seen the 
last of it.” 

“ Won’t you come and take tea with 
us, Sam ?” called out Mrs. Thorn as she 
saw him pass the door. 

“ No, I thank you,” said Sam, who had 
hard work to keep hack his tears and 
wished to get out of Jack’s way. “ I 
hope you’ll find your knife soon, Jack. 
Good-night.” 

“ What’s this I hear of a knife ?” asked 
Mr. Thorn when Jack came in to tea. 
“ Have you lost it ?” 

“ Yes, sir ; Sam Hoyt stole it while I 
was in the pond to-day,” said Jack, who 
was so put out that he did not care what 
he said. 

“Hush, my son,” said Mrs. Thorn. 
“ Do not talk so.” 

“ He did — I know he did,” Jack tried 
to say, hut Mr. Thorn broke in, and said : 

“ If I hear one more word of that kind 
from you, I shall send you out of the 
room, and you will go to bed, tea or no 


20 jack thorn’s knife. 

tea. How dare you talk so of that fine 
boy, who is such a good friend of yours ?” 

Jack held his tongue for awhile, hut at 
length he said, “I don’t see who else 
could have done it, sir.” 

“ For shame!” said Mr. Thorn. “ You 
make me blush for you. Take care that 
you say to no one else what you have 
said here this night !” 

Jack hung his head and did not speak, 
but he kept in the same mind, and would 
not speak to Sam Hoyt from that day, 
when he could help it. It seems strange 
that he had no more sense, but he was 
young and had much to learn. 

At first Sam thought that his ill-will 
would wear off, and tried to be friends 
with him as he had been all his life ; but 
when he found that Jack went on and 
sulked just the same, he left off, and did 
not go near him. So Jack lost a friend, 
and gained a host of bad thoughts in his 
stead. 

There was a boy whom Jack had not 


THE PLAY-DAY. 


21 


liked so long as he had been on good 
terms with Sam Hoyt, hut now he took 
to him, and they were seen locked arm 
in arm all round the town. This was 
Ralph Hale, a youth whom most boys 
feared to be seen with, for he had not a 
good name, and Mr. Thorn warned his 
son of this more than once. But Jack 
was self-willed, and when he thought he 
should not be found out would go off 
with Ralph and join him in his play. 

“That will bring no good to Jack,” 
said those who saw them. 


PART III. 

ON THE HILL. 

iY we go to the hill and look for 
moss to-day ?” said Grace, when 
the next play-day came. 

This hill was not quite a mile 
from Mr. Thorn’s house, and had steep 
sides all full of ferns and moss. On the 
top was a small hut where they could go 
in and rest when they had climbed till 
they were tired. 

“ Yes, my dear,” said Mrs. Thorn, who 
liked that they should have what they 
called “ a good time.” “ You may go as 
soon as we have dined, but you must 
not stay out late, and you must take 
great care not to fall and get hurt on 
that steep bank.” 

“ Oh, mayn’t we take our lunch with us 
22 



ON THE HILL. 


23 


and eat it there ?” said Grace. “ It would 
taste so nice !” 

“Yes, do let us!” chimed in Ruth. 
“And we’ll be so good when we come 
back.” 

“I’ll go wis you,” piped Dot, who 
stood with her doll in the right hand 
and a piece of bread in the left, and 
munched while she spoke. 

“ No, you won’t, ma’am !” said Grace. 
“ Not if we know it.” But Mrs. Thorn 
laid a soft hand on her head. 

“ Be kind, my child,” said she. “ It 
will not make your day more gay to 
think that you said a cross word to poor 
Dot to start with.” 

“ But just think if we should take her! 
She would break down halfway up, and 
we should have to lift her in our arms. 
We should not have a bit of fun at that 
rate.” 

“All this may be true, my love,” said 
Mrs. Thorn, “ and yet a kind word costs 
no more than a sharp one, and is twice 


24 


JACK THORN’S KNIFE. 


as sweet to hear. I should not let Dot 
go if you wished it, so you need have no 
fear on that score.” 

“ You’ll go with us, won’t you, Ned ?” 
asked Ruth as Ned came into the room. 

" Yes, I think I will,” said he. “ I 
used to like to go with Jack and Sam, 
hut I can’t get hold of Jack now-a-days. 
He’s off with Ralph Hale all the while.” 

Mrs. Thorn sighed, and the tears were 
in her eyes as she put up the lunch. 

How nice it was! There were cold 
ham, a small pie, bread and cheese, some 
plain cake, and a cup to drink out of. 
This was not the first time that the kind 
mother had done such things, and she 
knew how to make them taste good. 

“ Now, kiss all round, and then go,” 
she said when all was done. They did 
so, and Grace hugged Dot close to her, 
to make up for what she had said at first. 

“ You must bwing me some nice gween 
things,” said Dot, whose talk was not as 
plain as it might be. 


ON THE HILL. 


25 


“ Oh yes, we will !” cried both the 
girls at once, and then they went off with 
Ned, 

“ With hearts so light, 

With eyes so bright, 

With step so quick and gay, 

No care nor fear, 

No frown, no tear — 

Ah ! would I were as they !” 

They felt proud, as they went through 
the town, to think that their mother 
could trust them so far from home. The 
day was clear and fine, not too warm or 
too cold, but just right, and all looked as 
if they were to have a good trip. 

By and by they came to the foot of 
the hill, which was a good way out of 
town. They toiled up its steep sides as 
fast as their hands and feet would take 
them, for they had to use both to climb 
by, and found a great deal of fresh green 
moss, which was what they went for. 
They used it at home to lay in plates or 
pots and stick flowers in ; if wet through 
and through, it kept them fresh a long 

3 


26 


JACK THORN’S KNIFE. 


time. When they reached the top of 
the hill, they sank down on the ground 
to rest. 

“ Why don’t we keep on to the hut ?” 
asked Ned, who was strong and did not 
mind the walk. 

“ Oh, I can’t !” said Grace, out of 
breath. “ I could not go one step more 
if you were to give me a bag full of 
gold !” 

“ Nor I,” said Ruth, who was sure to 
think on all points just as Grace did. 

When they had had a good long rest, 
they got up and kept on to the log hut, 
which had been there so long that some 
of the boys used to say in joke that it 
must have been made when the hill was. 
The roof was full of holes that let in the 
rain, and the glass had long been gone 
from the sash, but the thick walls kept 
out the fierce rays of the sun, and as the 
hut was free to all, no one could blame it 
if it was, so to speak, the worse for wear. 

When our three young friends drew 


ON THE HILL. 


27 


near to the door and looked in, a strange 
sight met their view. 

On the thick, round log which served 
for a bench sat Jack and Ralph Hale, 
deep in talk. They were so much wrap- 
ped up in it that they did not hear the rest 
till they knocked on the door to rouse 
them. 

“ What do you want here ?” said Jack 
when he saw who they were. “ Be yff 
with you. Have you come here to play 
the spy on me ?” 

“ We have as good a right here as you 
have,” said Ned. 

“We did not know you were here,” 
said Grace, “ but if we had known it, we 
should have come just the same.” 

“ Come, Ralph,” said Jack, “ you and I 
will go somewhere else, and leave the 
place to them if they are so mean as to 
turn us out and come when folks don’t 
want them.” 

“ We don’t want to turn you out,” said 
Grace, “but we want to eat our lunch 


28 


JACK THORNS KNIFE. 


where it is nice and cool. We’ll give you 
some if you’ll stay. See what a fine lot 
there is of it !” 

“ No,” said Jack, “ I can get all I want 
at home. Come, Ralph and the two 
boys went off in a huff. 

“I’m sure we had a right to come 
here,” said Grace, when they were out of 
sight. “All the boys and girls do, just 
when they have a mind to.” 

“Of course they do,” said Ned. “I 
shall tell father of Jack, see if I don’t. 
He has told him he did not like him to 
go with Ralph Hale.” 

“ No, no !” said Grace; “ don’t do that. 
We must not tell tales. I don’t think 
father would like it at all if you did. He 
can take care of Jack as well as we can.” 

“All right,” said Ned, who was sharp- 
set and did not want to wait. “ Out with 
your lunch.” 

He filled the tin-cup at a spring near 
by, and they ate their good things with 
great zest. 


ON THE HILL. 


29 


Then when the sun was not quite so 
high they went out and had some more 
play on the hill. Once they came near 
an old white horse, who had been turned 
loose to graze. He chanced to whisk his 
tail, and Grace sprang out of the way. 

“Ho! ho !” said Ned. “Traid, be 
ye ?” 

He had heard an old man who worked 
on the farm talk in this way, so he said 
this to make the girls laugh. 

“No,” said Grace, “but the horse 
might kick, and I don’t want him to 
break my arm, if you please.” 

Just then the horse made a quick turn, 
and Ned jumped as if he had been shot. 
“Ha, ha, Mr. Ned!” said Grace. “Who 
he’s ’fraid now ?” 

“Pooh! pooh!” said Ned in a grand 
way, and he strolled off as much as to say, 
“It is not worth my while to stop and 
talk with you.” 

By and by the sun grew low, and then 
they all knew it was time for them to go 

3 * 


30 


JACK THORN’S KNIFE. 


home. They picked up the moss and 
what was left of their lunch (for there was 
more than they could eat), and set out, 
well pleased with their day’s tramp. 

When they had gone part of the way, 
they passed a small house where a poor 
old black man lived. “ Why can’t we 
stop here and give Tim Lunt the rest of 
our food?” asked Ned. “ We did not 
eat much more than half of it.” 

“ So we will,” said Grace. “ That’s a 
good thought. There’s Tim down by the 
gate now.” 

They had to turn down a short lane 
to get to the house, and about halfway 
there a great dog jumped out through a 
hole in the fence, and scared them half 
out of their wits. 

“ Oh dear ! oh dear !” cried the girls. 
“ What shall we do ? Oh, he’ll bite us ! 
he’ll bite us !” 

But Tim Lunt came out and called, 
“ Down, sir, down !” in so rough a voice 
that the brute sneaked off with his tail 


ON THE HILL. 


31 


out of sight, and did not dare to show his 
head from that time. 

“It’s Ralph Hale’s dog,” said Tim. 
“ He must be somewhere near, for Smirk 
does not go far from him.” So he looked 
round, and soon saw the bad boy, who lay 
in the grass where some shrubs screened 
him from view. Ralph burst out in a 
loud, coarse laugh when they found him 
out. 

“ He set the dog on you, I know he 
did by his ways !” cried Tim. “ For 
shame, you young scamp, to serve folks 
so!” and he shook his fist at him. It 
was all he could do, for he was old and 
had no strength to whip him, as he would 
have liked to do. 

“ We don’t mind him, Tim,” said Grace. 
“ We have brought you some things 
mother gave us to eat when up on the 
hill, and there was more than we had 
need of.” 

“ Thank you, miss. It was kind in 
you to think of me. It’s true, I don’t 


32 


JACK THORN’S KNIFE. 


have much that’s nice to eat, and what 
your ma makes is sure to taste good.” 

They left the things with him and 
went home, and did not see Ralph at all 
on the way. At tea they told of how he 
set the dog on them, but did not say that 
they found him and Jack in the hut, for 
that would have made them tell-tales. 

“Well, Dot, how are you to-night?” 
said her papa as the small chunk of a 
girl put up her red lips to be kissed. 

“ I’se well, fank you, sir, and I helped 
make pies, so I did,” said Dot, with a 
puffed-up air. 

“ Yes,” said Mrs. Thorn, “ she stirred 
in some sand while my back was turned, 
and I had to throw out the whole pan- 
ful and make some new sauce. She is 
a great help to me, is Miss Dot.” 

“ What else did you do, Flips ?” said 
her papa, who called his wee girl by all 
sorts of pet names. 

“ I washed my doll’s face, and her 
cheeks came off,” said Dot. “ Look here !” 


ON THE HILL. 


33 


and she showed poor Mug with the paint 
all soaked off her face. 

“ You’re a great girl !” said Mr. Thorn, 
as proud as if she had done some fine 
thing. “ I don’t see how we should get 
on if we had no Mrs. Mouse to keep us 
all straight.” 

c 


PAET IV. 


GOOD WORDS. 

HE next day was the Lord’s day, 
and all went to church but Mrs. 
Thorn, who had to stay at home 
and take care of Hot. Once they 
took the child with them, but she went 
to sleep, and snored so loud that all those 
in the pews near by looked round to see 
what made such a queer noise, so Mrs. 
Thorn did not dare to try the same thing 
again. 

When dinner was done, the young 
folks went to the church school, which 
was held from three to five o’clock. 
Buth had learned a short verse from the 
Bible to say to Miss Wells, who taught 
her class, and she said it out loud to 
Grace to find if it was right : 

34 



GOOD WORDS. 


35 


“ ‘ And He took them up in his arms, put 
his hands upon them, and blessed them.’ ” 

“ Yes/’ said Grace, “that’s right. Now 
hear me say my part of a Psalm : 

“ ‘ I will praise thee, O Lord, with my 
whole heart; I will show forth all thy 
marvellous works. 

“ ‘ I will be glad and rejoice in thee ; 
I will sing praise to thy name, O thou 
Most High. 

“ ‘ And they that know thy name will 
put their trust in thee ; for thou, Lord, 
hast not forsaken them that seek thee.’ ” 

“ That must be all right,” said Ruth, 
“ or you could not say it so fast. Ned, 
what did you have to learn ?” 

“ Just one short verse — it sounds like 
a hymn,” said Ned : 

“ ‘ If ways of truth and right you seek, 

Five things you’ll mark with care : 

Of whom you speak, to whom you speak, 

And how , and when, and where! ” 

“Oh, that’s nice,” said Grace. “I 
mean to learn it, too.” 


36 


JACK THORN’S KNIFE. 


“ So do I,” said Ruth, not to be left 
out. 

Jack did not go or come with them, 
for he thought them too young to he seen 
with him. But when they came home, 
as he had walked fast and they had not, 
they found him in the front porch. 

“ What did you learn for to-day, 
Jack ?” asked Grace as she came in. 

“ What's that to you, I should like to 
know ?” said J ack, who had grown quite 
rude since he went so much with Ralph 
Hale. 

“ Well, you need not tell if you don’t 
want to,” said Grace, quite set back by 
his sharp tone. “I’m sure it was no 
harm to ask.” 

“Just keep your mouth shut, then, 
and don’t be a goose and try to put on 
airs,” said Jack, who had changed much 
for the worse in the last few weeks. 

“You cross, rude, mean old thing!” 
said Grace, in no mild tone. “I wish 
you’d go off to sea or somewhere else, I 


GOOD WORDS. 


37 


don’t care where, and not come hack till 
you are grown up and can act like a man ! 
Now you are more like a cross dog !” 

“My dear Grace,” said Mrs. Thorn, 
who had heard this speech from her room, 
“ what does this mean ? I think my ears 
must have played me false. Was it my 
child who used such words as those ?” 

Grace cast down her eyes, and said in 
a low tone, “ I think when Jack talks so 
to me I ought to talk back to him. If I 
did not, he would go on and do it all the 
more.” 

“ You know, my love,” said Mrs. 
Thorn, “ we have hut one rule for such 
things : Would Christ have done so? If 
he would, then you may feel that it is 
quite right for you to do the same.” 

Grace did not speak, and her mother 
went on : 

“ I think you are wrong when you say 
it would make Jack worse if you were 
kind to him at these times. I have not 
found it so in the course of my life. 

4 


38 


JACK THORN’S KNIFE. 


When those who have done wrong to us 
see that we do not wish to harm them, 
but try to be as kind and good as we can, 
it makes them feel their faults far more 
than if we scold and fret. Will you not 
try it and see ? I know you will do it to 
please me, if you have no other ground.” 

“ I will try it,” said Grace, who loved 
her mamma and knew that what she said 
was true. The next time she met Jack 
she had a kind word and a smile for him, 
and he said no more harsh things to 
her. 

“ Mother was right,” thought Grace. 
“ But that is not strange. It would be 
more strange if she were not right.” 

When they went to bed that night, 
Mrs. Thorn knelt down with them, as 
she did all the nights in the year, and 
prayed that the good God would keep 
them safe through those dark hours when 
there was no one else who could take 
care of them. Then she asked him to 
bless them and make them good, and to 


GOOD WORDS. 


39 


have all their dear friends in his charge. 
But this night she put a new prayer on 
the list. It was this : “ Grant us grace to 
keep our lips free from all harsh words, 
and our hearts from hard thoughts. 

- Teach us to he meek and mild like our 
Lord, and not give way to sin.” 

And she gave Grace this text, which 
she soon learned, by heart : “ Set a watch, 
O Lord, before my mouth ; keep the door 
of my lips.” 

Dot, too, small as she was, had her own 
short prayer; it was in rhyme, and we 
will write it down here in case there 
should he some of those who read this 
book that have not yet learned the lines : 

“ Now I lay me down to sleep, 

I pray the Lord my soul to keep ; 

If I should die before I wake, 

> I pray the Lord my soul to take : 

And this I ask for Jesus’ sake.” 

Mrs. Thorn tried to teach Dot what 
this meant ; and I think the child knew 
as well as some grown folks do when 


40 jack thorn’s knife. 

they say their prayers. But when she 
had said as the rest did : 

“ God bless mother, God bless father, 
and Jack, and Grace, and Ruth, and all 
Dot’s dear friends ; God bless Dot and 
make her a good girl,” she would add of 
her own accord : 

“ God bless Mug, and Jess, and Prince, 
and take good care of them, and give 
Mug a new dress, ’cause the old one’s all 
worn out.” 

The girls laughed at this, for these 
were the names of her doll, her cat, and 
the house-dog ; but Mrs. Thorn said they 
must not laugh, for Dot meant all she 
said, and that if all the rest of the world 
put as much heart in their prayers as she 
did, there would be more true faith than 
there is now. 


PAET V. 

THE END OF SCHOOL . 

f HE warm, long days of June had 
come, and were wellnigli gone. 
On the last day of the month the 
boy who had learned his tasks 
best through the term was to have a 
prize. 

No one knew what this prize would be, 
but they knew Mr. St. Clair, who taught 
them, and were sure that he would give 
them something they would like to have. 
Some of them worked for this prize as 
they would not have done if the hope of 
it had not been held out to them, but I 
am glad to say that there were some who 
did the best they could at all times, and 
did not need a spur to make them try to 
learn. Of this last kind was our friend, 
Sam Hoyt. 

4 *- 


41 


42 


JACK THORN’S KNIFE. 


He had stood at the head of his class 
for a long time, and would have stayed 
there but that his aunt, with whom he 
lived, had been so sick for some weeks 
that they feared for her life. This had 
caused Sam to be late sometimes, and 
now and then not to come at all, for he 
felt that he must do all he could for her, 
as she had been most kind to him since 
the death of his parents, and if she should 
die there would be no one left to care for 
him. 

While he was gone, Jack Thorn took 
his place at the head of the class and 
kept it, and Sam could not catch up with 
him. Of course this was not Jack’s fault, 
for it was right for him to stand as high 
as he could and do his best to keep his 
place, but it was hard for his friend to 
bear. 

All this time the loss of his knife 
weighed on Jack’s mind. He had made 
up with Sam so far that he would now 
speak to him when he met him, but the 


THE END OF SCHOOL. 


43 


old grudge was still strong, and he made 
Sam feel that he was not now to him 
what he had been. It is true that not 
one of the boys in school thought as Jack 
did, but he kept up his spite with such 
a firm will that all they could say had 
not the least effect on him. 

At last the great day came — the end 
of the term. 

You may know that not much else 
was talked of all day, and when night 
came the great school-room was packed 
as full as it could hold of friends who 
came to look on. The desks had all been 
moved out, and in their place were long 
seats that reached halfway from side to 
side of the room, with a pathway to let 
the guests pass through. 

We may be sure that Mr. and Mrs. 
Thorn were there, as well as Grace and 
Ned. As Euth was but six years old, 
her mamma thought it best for her not 
to go, so she stayed at home and went to 
bed with Dot — at least by Dot’s side, 


44 


JACK THORN’S KNIFE. 


for the “wee thing,” as an old Scotchman 
used to call her, had her crib close to the 
large bedstead where Grace and Ruth 
lay. Mrs. Thorn would come in some 
time in the course of the night and look 
at these three dear ones to see if all 
was right ; and they looked so sweet in 
their white gowns that she could not 
help . but give them a kiss all round, 
though they did not know it. 

Well, we must go back to our school- 
room. The friends were all in their 
seats, and there were Mr. St. Clair and 
his boys, all in seats on the stage, and 
first of all the boys were to show off what 
they had learned that term. 

First he gave them hard sums to do, 
and called one at a time to the black- 
board, which was placed there in full 
view. These were new sums, that they 
had not done till now, and all who looked 
on were pleased to see how well they did 
them. Then Mr. St. Clair gave them 
words to spell, which he took from all 


THE END OF SCHOOL. 


45 


parts of a large book, just as it chanced, 
for he had not picked them out. Some 
boys went wrong in this, but it was not 
strange that they should, for there are 
few who can spell each word in a book, 
and make no fault. Then all the books 
that they had used in school came up in 
turn, and he asked them some things in 
each; and for the most part they did 
well, and showed that all his pains had 
not been in vain. 

After this the boys were formed in 
rows, the tall ones at the back next the 
wall, the short ones in front. At one 
side, but where he could be seen by all, 
stood Mr. St. Clair. 

“I want to ask you, boys,” said he, 
“ which one of you all ought to have this 
prize, if worth were the test by which I 
gave it?” 

“Sam Hoyt! Sam Hoyt!” they all 
cried — all but Sam and poor Jack, who 
longed for it and hoped it might come 
to him. Sam gave the name of Joe 


46 


JACK THORN’S KNIFE. 


Bryce, a boy whom he liked, but who 
was not up to these two in his tasks. He 
could not say Jack Thorn, for it would 
not have been true for him to say he 
thought Jack had the best claim to it. 

“ You are right,” said Mr. St. Clair, 
when he heard this shout; “ that is to say, 
you think as I do. There is no one to 
whom I should be so glad to give it as to 
him. But he has lost some time through 
his zeal to serve a sick friend ; and so it has 
come to pass that, though he learned all 
his tasks at home just the same as if he 
had been here, he has missed his marks 
at school, and it would not be right for 
me to fix on him as the one most fit to 
have the prize, when one of his class- 
mates has more marks than he.” 

He stopped, and there was a pause. 
No one spoke, but all knew that Jack 
Thorn was the one he meant. He took 
a box from the shelf, and set it on the 
stand in sight of all who were there. 
Then he went on : 


THE END OF SCHOOL. 


47 


“But it is time for me to show you 
what I have bought for you;” and he 
held up a watch with a white face. It 
was not gold, hut it was a nice watch, 
for all that. The works were just as 
good as if the case had been of fine 
gold, and that is the great point in a 
watch. I have seen one set with pearls 
that did not keep time half as well as 
this plain one now shown by Mr. St. 
Clair. 

“ How do you like it, boys ?” said he. 

“ It is grand — first rate,” some of them 
cried out. And the rest used words of 
strong praise when they spoke of it, but 
these words were too long to go in this 
book, so I cannot tell you what they 
were. You can judge what they ought 
to have been for your own selves. 

“ It is now time for me to state,” Mr. 
St. Clair went on to say, “ that the boy 
who has had most good marks through 
the term is John Thorn. To him I 
make a gift of this watch.” 


48 


JACK THORN’S KNIFE. 


He held up the watch to Jack, who 
stepped out from his place in the ranks, 
took it with a bow, and said, “ Thank 
you, sir.” 

Of course the boys came round him in 
a crowd to look at his gift, and were loud 
in their praise of it. It was a rare thing, 
in that small town, for a boy of twelve 
years old to have a thing as choice as 
that. 

When Mr. St. Clair had let them have 
time to say their say out, he rapped on 
the stand as a sign that they should 
cease their talk. All stopped at once, 
and he told them he had something more 
to say. 

“ I did not think it fair,” said this good 
man, “ that Sam Hoyt, who is the best 
boy in my school, should lose this mark 
of my good-will when he has missed in 
school from an act for which we all 
praise him. For this cause I have 
bought one watch more, in all ways like 
the first one, and this I give to Sam for 


THE END OF SCHOOL. 


49 


the good deeds he has done both in and 
out of school. I have no fault to find 
with him.” 

You ought to have heard the shout of 
joy that burst forth from all lips and 
hearts when this speech was made and 
Sam went up to take the watch. He 
tried to speak, but the words stuck in 
his throat, his heart swelled, and he 
could only bow his thanks, for if he had 
tried to speak he would have burst into 
tears. 

The boys cheered and cheered till Mr. 
St. Clair had to rap for them to stop. It 
seemed as if they would have alarmed 
the town with their noise. The friends, 
too, who had come to look on, were as 
much pleased as they were, and the whole 
scene was one of pure joy and good-will. 

Ho, I am wrong ; there was one voice 
that did not join in the glad cry — one 
heart that felt pain at Sam’s good luck. 
Need I say whose these were? Poor Jack 
was so full of spite and ill-will that he 

5 D 


50 


JACK THORN’S KNIFE. 


could have cried to hear the praise that 
was heaped on his schoolmate. He felt 
as if all this took just so much from him, 
for no one had cheered when the gift came 
to him, but took it as a thing of course. 
The fact was that since the rest of the 
boys had seen Jack treat his good friend 
with scorn and cold looks, they did not 
like him as well as they had once done. 
They took part with Sam, and though 
Jack was on good terms with them, yet 
his friendship with Ralph Hale, who did 
not go to school, took him off from his 
old playmates, and they now did not care 
much for him. 

So Jack sulked and looked grave, and 
wished he were at home. He had a new 
watch, to be sure, but what good did it 
do him when he felt like this ? He was 
glad when the crowd broke up, and he 
joined his friends and set out for home. 

The next day his mother gave him a 
guard for the watch, and he wore it with 
great pride. It had to be shown to Ruth 


THE END OF SCHOOL. 


51 


and Dot, who had been snug in bed while 
all the fun took place in school. They 
stared at it with round eyes, and thought 
J ack must he a man now, or he could not 
have such a fine thing as that. 

“ Will it go?” asked Ruth in a tone of 
doubt. 

“ Go ! I should think so !” said Jack 
as he showed her the small hand, which 
went round so fast you could see it move 
all the time. 

“ Let me hear it tick,” said Dot. 

So he held it to her ear, and she looked 
wise and said, “ It don’t make as much 
noise as the big clock out in the hall. 
Will it stwike ten ?” 

“No, you young goose!” said Jack, 
with a laugh. “ It won’t strike at all ; 
a watch is not made to strike. But it 
has one thing that the old clock don’t 
have — it has three hands, and that has 
but two.” 

“ And it has a stwing to hang it up by, 
and the clock has to stand on the floor,” 


52 


JACK THORN’S KNIFE. 

said Dot, who was wise in lier own small 
way. “ When I am gwown up to be a 
gweat big girl, shall I have a watch, too?” 

“ I guess you will, if you’re good,” said 
Jack. He had his doubts, but he did not 
like to dash her hopes to the ground so 
soon. To grow up and be a “ great big 
girl,” and have all that big girls had, 
and do all that big girls did, were the 
ends and aims of Dot’s life. 


PART VI. 

OUT OF SCHOOL. 

« HE next time Jack was down 
town he went to a toy-shop and 
bought a small watch for Dot, for 
which he gave the sum of ten 
cents. It did not quite go, but it had a 
white face like that of his own watch, 
and black hands, and a brass case that 
looked to her just like gold, and a ring 
at the top which she could put a string 
through to go round her neck. She 
clapped her hands when she saw it, and 
said Jack was “ weal good.” She could 
not say “r” if it did not chance to come 
at the end of a word, or “ th”: so “ thing” 
and “ think” she called “ling” and “fink.” 
But most words she could say quite well, 
and these were so droll that the rest did 


5 * 


53 


54 


JACK THORN'S KNIFE. 


not try to check her in them, hut let 
her say them as she pleased. 

All the schools in the place had a rest 
for the two hot months, and the girls and 
boys looked for fine times. Jack was 
now of an age to he of some use on the 
farm, and Mr. Thorn told him he must 
do some work there each day, and not 
spend all his time in play. He thought, 
too, that this would keep his son out of 
the way of Ralph Hale, whose ill deeds 
were the talk of the town, and who would 
be sure to do harm to a lad that was 
much with him. The love of truth and 
right was not in him, and all good men 
feared for their sons when he made 
friends with them. 

Jack could not hold the plough, but 
he could drive as well as a man ; and 
though most of this kind of work is done 
in the spring, yet there are some crops 
which are out of the ground by the last 
of June, and give place to such as will 
grow late in the fall. So Jack had his 


OUT OF SCHOOL. 


55 


hands full, though Mr. Thorn did not let 
him work more than was right for his 
strength. He had his times for play, 
and could stroll off with his friends and 
spend hours in sport when he had done 
what was laid out for his day’s task. 

“ All work and no play 
Makes Jack a dull boy,” 

is a wise old saw that Mr. Thorn had full 
faith in, hut he had one of his own which 
he thought quite as good, which was, 

“ Play tastes best 
When work comes first,” 

and his boys owned that this one came 
true. 

For the girls Mrs. Thorn had the same 
rule, but she was so mild and kind in 
her ways that it scarce seemed like a rule 
to them. Mr. Thorn was strict with them 
all, and could be stern at times when 
they had not done right, but his wife 
was all sweet trust and love. 

“ Oh, mother ! need I sweep my room 
now?” Grace asked one day when she 


56 


JACK THORN’S KNIFE. 


longed to go and play with her friend, 
Madge Earle, who lived not far off, in a 
back street. 

“ Why not, my dear Grace ?” asked 
her mother, who was just then at work 
on a dress which Grace had torn on a 
nail, and which she must now spare time 
to mend, though she had so much else 
to do. 

“Why, I don’t know: I hate so to 
do it.” 

“ But you know it must be done, do you 
not, my love ?” said her kind mamma. 

“ I s’pose so,” said Grace, who could 
not say “No,” and did not like to say 
“ Yes” 

“Who shall do it, then, dear, if you 
do not ?” 

“ I don’t know, ma’am, but I don’t 
think it needs to be done to-day. I 
might leave it just one day.” 

“And when the next day comes, 
which is the one you fixed upon for a 
visit to some of your young friends, do 


OUT OF SCHOOL. 


57 


you think you would like to stop and do 
it first?” 

“ I don’t know,” said Grace, for the 
third time. 

“ I know,” said Mrs. Thorn, “ and I 
wish you would not say such things, for 
they are not quite true. You do know, 
and when you say you do not, it makes 
me feel sad. You know that when the 
time came for you to start out, and you 
had to wait, first to use the broom, then 
to leave the room till the dust had had 
time to get still, and then to dust it and 
fix it up, you would feel far worse than 
you do now.” 

Grace did not move, but sat like a 
block of wood. She could not make up 
her mind to do as she ought, and tried to 
put it off as long as she could. 

“Each day has its own work,” said 
Mrs. Thorn, “ and if we do not do it on 
the day, it comes twice as hard to us. So 
I want my dear girl to go now and get her 
broom and dust-cloth, and not let me see 


58 


JACK THORN'S KNIFE. 


her till the whole is done, and well done. 
Then I shall be glad to have her with 
me once more.” 

Grace left the room at this, for she had 
been taught that when she was told to do 
a thing she must do it. Her mother 
had not told her at first to sweep the 
room, but tried to make her see that it 
was best to do it. Now she saw that 
there was no use in this, so she had to be 
firm. If Mr. Thorn had been there, 
Grace would not have dared to say a 
word. 

“Why do you mend such a small 
hole?” said Ruth, who stood near and 
saw her mamma at work on the torn 
dress. 

“ Have you not heard folks say, Rue, 
that a stitch in time saves nine?” said 
Mrs. Thorn. 

“ I think not,” said Ruth. “ That's a 
rhyme, isn't it ?” 

“ It was meant for a rhyme,” said Mrs. 
Thorn, “ but it is a poor one. M and n 


OUT OF SCHOOL. 


59 


will not rhyme. I can tell you a verse 
that does rhyme, though, and you may 
learn it if you want to. It is one I have 
known since I was nine years old, and I 
should like you to know it, too.” 

“ I shall be nine my next birth-day,” 
said Ned, who had just come in and 
heard the last words. 

“ Yes, sir ; and do you know how far 
off that is ? You will have to wait six 
months for it yet. But you can learn 
the verse, too. Now both of you say it 
with me : 

1 1 like little pussy, her coat is so warm, 

And if I don’t hurt her, she’ll do me no harm, 

So I’ll not pull her tail, nor drive her away, 

But pussy and I very gently will play ; 

She shall sit by my side and I’ll give her some food, 
And she’ll love me because I am gentle and good.’ ” 

Mrs. Thorn made them say this two or 
three times, till they knew it quite well, 
and told them they must speak it for 
their father when he came home. 

“ But I have some work for two pairs 


60 


JACK THORNES KNIFE. 


of small hands that I know of,” said she 
when they had done. “ I want my wood- 
box filled. Who will do it for me ?” 

“ I will,” said Ruth. “ And I will,” 
said Ned, for this was a job they both 
liked. 

“ That’s right. Yon can do it both at 
once. Rue can help Ned, and Ned can 
help Rue. Fill it full to the top, so 
there is not a chink left as large as a 
peanut.” 

“ And I will help bofe of dem,” said 
Dot, who wished to try each new thing 
that she heard of, and thought things 
could not go on if her small thumb was 
not in the pie. 

“ I think it’s more safe for you to stay 
with me,” said Mrs. Thorn, who feared 
they would not take quite such good care 
of Dot as she did, but would throw sticks 
of wood on her hands, or hurt her in 
some way. 

“You fink I can’t do de least fing,” 
said Dot, and looked so hurt at this want 


OUT OF SCHOOL. 


61 


of faith in her that Mrs. Thorn could 
not hold out. 

“ I’ll tell you what you can do for me, 
Dot,” said she, “ and you shall, if you 
want to. Fill the green box with chips 
for me to light the fire with.” 

a Fank you, ma’am,” said Dot, and 
bobbed her head with what she meant for 
a bow. “ I’ll do it, ma’am, wite along.” 

So she went off in great style, but 
when the box was not more than half full 
she gave up, and came back to Mrs. 
Thorn, who said to her : 

“ Tired so soon, my own ?” 

“No, ma’am,” said Dot, “but I fink 
dere’s nuff chips for one day, and I 
fought p’waps you’d like to see me.” 

“ So I do, duck and her mother 
kissed her, and took her on her lap, and 
told her the tale of “The man in the 
moon” who “ came down too soon.” 

In a short time Dot’s bright eyes closed, 
and Mrs. Thorn laid her in her crib for a 
good long nap. 

6 


PAET VII. 


JACK GOES WRONG. 

HE warm days passed by with no 
great change to our friends at 
Stowe, and as it drew near the 
fall, now and then there would 
come a cool, sharp day which brought to 
mind the fact that play-time would soon 
be past and school-days come back. The 
wheat, rye, and oats were all in, the hay 
had been cut a long time, and the corn 
stood tall and fresh and green, not yet 
ripe to be pulled from its stalk, husked, 
and piled up in the corn-crib for use in 
the cold days yet to come. 

One day, when Jack had gone off for 
a walk and no one knew where he was 
(for Mr. Thorn would not watch his son, 
but thought it best to trust him at all 
62 



63 


. JACK GOES WRONG. 

times), he took once more the path that 
led to the hut on top of the hill, where 
he was to meet Ralph Hale. 

This place was so far from the town 
that they- could feel sure they were not to 
be seen ; and it was so high that if one they 
did not want to see came up they could 
see him far off, go out by the back way, 
and be out of sight by the time he was 
near the hut. So it was a good place to 
meet and talk in, but a bad place for 
Jack, who knew that he did wrong each 
time that he went up there. 

There was a kind of charm in Ralph 
that it was hard to flee from. When he 
chose, he could be frank and gay and 
kind, too, in his way, so that all liked to 
be with him. It was not till you knew 
to what a base use his gifts could be put 
that you felt shy of him. He had great 
skill in all kinds of sport ; could beat the 
best of the boys when they played ball ; 
and could shoot or row or fish, so that 
none of them could come up with him. 


64 


JACK THORN’S KNIFE. 


But this was not all ; he would cheat 
or lie if it served his turn, and swear at 
all times, and would take what was not 
his own, and feel no shame when he was 
found out. Where good boys would 
have liked to sink through the floor, or 
hide their heads in some hole, he would 
laugh, and think it a good joke that he 
had been caught at a poor man’s hen- 
roost, or his wife’s line of clean clothes 
which had been washed and hung out 
to dry. So it is not odd that those who 
knew of his tricks should shrink from 
him with dread. 

On the day of which we speak he got 
to the hut first, and sat down to wait till 
Jack should come in. He had been up 
late at night, and as he had to wait for 
some time, he thought he would lie down 
on the floor for a nap. As he did so a 
knife rolled out from his clothes, not 
seen by him, and fell on the ground by 
his side. 

He had not slept long when Jack 


JACK GOES WRONG. 


65 


came up, quite out of breath, for he knew 
he was late, and had walked fast to make 
up for lost time. 

“ Hi ! Ralph !” said he when he saw 
the boy stretched out at full length, 
“ wake up !” 

“ Oh, it’s you, is it !” said Ralph when 
he turned and saw him. He rose to his 
feet, and as he did so the knife was left 
in plain sight. 

“Ha! what’s that?” called out Jack, 
and sprang to pick it up. Quick as 
thought, Ralph stooped for it, seized it, 
and put it in its place with the words, 
“ It’s mine ; it dropped out when I went 
to sleep.” 

“ It looks just like the one I lost last 
spring,” said Jack. “Let me see it, 
won’t you ?” 

“ No, I won’t,” said Ralph in a rough 
tone. “ Why should I ? “It is not 
yours.” 

“ Well, I’d like to, just to set my mind 
at rest,” urged Jack. “ I should think 

6 * E 


66 


JACK THORN’S KNIFE. 


you might let me. What harm would 
it do you ?” 

“ I don’t choose to, that’s all. What’s 
mine’s my own, and I mean to keep it. 
I’ll show it to no one.” 

Jack felt sure that the knife was his, 
but it would have been of no use to say 
so, and might have led to a fight ; and as 
Ralph was a tall, strong boy, Jack would 
have had no chance at all; so as he did 
not care to risk a black eye or a bruised 
cheek, and did not want his teeth knocked 
out, he said no more. 

“We shall have some fine sport to- 
night,” said Ralph when he had gained 
his point. “ Come and meet us at the 
big tree by Snow’s barn, at half-past ten 
o’clock, will you ?” 

“What do you mean to do?” asked 
Jack. 

“Oh, we’ll tell you when you get 
there,” said Ralph. “ No need to know 
now. Will you come or not ?” 

“ I should like to know first what the 


JACK GOES WRONG. 67 

sport’s to be,” said Jack, who had his 
doubts as to the kind Balph meant. 

“Well, you won’t find out till you 
come to the place,” said the boy. “If 
you’re such a poor sneak you can’t take 
us on trust, you may stay at home. We 
want boys with some spunk in them to 
join us.” 

Jack longed to say, as he thought, “ I 
want to know if you mean to do what is 
wrong,” but shame kept back the truth 
from his lips, and he tried to seem at 
ease. 

“ I can’t say just yet,” said he at last. 
“ I’d like to come if I can get off. But 
you know the old man may be ’round, 
and if so, I can’t stir.” 

Balph laughed a loud horse-laugh. 
“Tied to its dad’s coat-tails!” said he. 
“ Well, well, if its dad won’t let it turn 
out, it must stay home and be put to bed 
at dark, so it must !” 

“ Hold your tongue !” cried Jack in 
great wrath. “ No one shall talk so to 


68 


JACK THORN’S KNIFE. 


me. I'll come if I choose, and if I don’t 
I won’t.” 

“All right,” said Ralph, who did not 
want to push him too far. “ We’ll look 
for you at half-past ten sharp, and if 
you’re not there, we’ll wait till you come, 
so don’t fail. Go round by the road back 
of the house, and keep well in the shade, 
for the moon is full to-night. The gate 
creaks, so you must climb the fence ; it’s 
not high, and you’ll run less risk.” 

They had some more talk, but it did 
not come to much, and when Ralph left 
him at the foot of the hill, Jack had 
given his word to meet this bad boy and 
his friends, and have what they called 
“ prime fun.” 

He had not gone far when his heart 
smote him, and he wished he had not 
said those weak words, but had told 
Ralph at once that he would not go if he 
was to be thus left in the dark as to their 
plan. None of them could have blamed 
him for this, and he would not have had 


JACK GOES WRONG. 


69 


this weight at his heart. But it was too 
late now ; he had said he would go, the 
boys would wait for him, and he must 
keep his word. 

Ah, poor weak boy! You cannot 
guess what grief and shame are in store 
for you, or you would yet take back that 
rash “ Yes,” and take your stand on the 
broad, firm ground of right. 

In this mood Jack went home. His 
heart felt like lead in his breast, his 
breath came quick and fast, and he would 
have given worlds, had they been his to 
give, not to have done the acts of the 
past hour. 

When he drew near the gate, he heard 
Mrs. Thorn’s sweet voice as she sang to 
the girls, to whom this was a great treat. 
He sat down in the porch where he could 
hear the words, which were these : 


“ Oh had I the wings of a dove I would fly 
Far, far from this world of care ; 

My soul would mount to the realms on high, 
And seek for a refuge there.” 


70 


JACK THORN’S KNIFE. 


“ I wish / had a good pair of wings,” 
thought Jack as he heard this. “ I'd fly 
as far off as I could get, and as fast as I 
could go out of the way of this bad job. 
I wish I'd been drowned in the Red Sea- 
when I was bom ! I can’t tell now what 
made me do so. But it is done, and I've 
got to make the best of it.” 

He sat down with the rest, but felt all 
the while as if their eyes could see 
straight through the thin veil with which 
he tried to hide his thoughts, and as if 
each ear could hear his heart beat. Pit- 
a-pat it went, so loud and so fast it was 
all he could do to catch his breath and 
not show what ailed him. No one took 
note of him ; the talk went on as it did 
six days in the week, and not a word was 
said that need have caused his fright; 
but the ways of sin were new to him, 
and they pressed him hard. He was 
glad when it came time to say “ Good- 
night,” and he was free to go to bed. 


PAET VIII, 

THE NIGHT WALK. 

F course there was no sleep for 
Jack that night. He lay with 
his eyes stretched wide, and his 
ears quick to note each sound in 
the house. How long the time seemed ! 
He had to wait till all was still, and Mrs. 
Thorn had been to each child’s bed and 
left a kiss on its cheek. His heart smote 
him as he felt her warm lips on his face, 
for he had shut his eyes when he heard 
her light step near his door. But one 
bad deed leads to more, and when his 
foot was in the path of wrong, he could 
not, or thought he could not, draw it back. 

At last all was hushed. One by one 
the sounds stopped, the lights were put 
out, and he judged that it was safe for 
him to get up. He slid out of bed with 

71 



72 


JACK THORN’S KNIFE. 


great care, for Ned was by liis side; 
though he need have had no fears on 
that score, for Ned's sleep was so sound 
you would have found it hard to wake 
him unless you had fired off a gun close to 
his ear. Then he put on his clothes so 
as not to be heard out of the room, and 
with one glance at Ned, who had not 
stirred, he stole to the door with his 
shoes in his hand, for he feared that they 
might creak as he went down stairs if 
he put them on first. 

He found he could turn the knob and 
yet make no noise, which was a piece of 
great good luck, he thought. Step by 
step he went down the stairs, and gained 
the back door ; when he had once passed 
through this and stood on the firm 
ground, he felt quite safe. 

Ah, Jack, are you safe? Would it 
not be best to go back now, and brave 
the taunts of those bad boys who wish to 
lure you on to your own harm and loss ? 
Think of it, dear boy, once more ! 


THE NIGHT WALK. 


73 


But he would not stop to think. His 
mind was made up to go on in this bad 
course, and he was not to be turned back 
from it. He must work out his own fate. 

He sat down on the door-step to put on 
his shoes, for the ground w^as wet with 
dew. It was one of the first nights of 
fall, but the frost had not yet come. The 
air was keen but clear, and the world 
looked most fair, bathed in the soft, 
bright light of the full moon. Here and 
there a small star peeped out, but it 
looked pale, and did not make much 
show by the side of the great round orb 
that poured forth such a flood of light. 
All things took their hue from this : 
trees, roof, grass, all had a kind of white 
sheen which is not to be seen in the day- 
time. It was a night to charm the eye 
and fill the good, pure soul with joy. 

But for a heart full of guilt the fair 
scene had no charm. Each crook in the 
fence seemed as if it might hide a spy 
who would jump out and cry “ Halt !” to 

7 


74 


JACK THORN’S KNIFE. 


Jack. He thought he saw forms perched 
in the trees, and branch and bough took 
shapes of fear to haunt him as he 
went by. The slight creak made by 
the gate in the back yard seemed to 
him ten times as loud as it was ; and the 
low growl Prince the dog gave when 
he felt Jack pat him on the head was 
worse than the howl of a wild beast. 
But at last the gate was closed, and he 
was out in the lane, with no eye to watch 
and no tongue to tell of him. 

No eye, Jack ? You know that there 
is one Eye that sleeps not night or day, 
and that can see as well when all is dark 
as in the broad light of noon. It sees 
you now ; but you do not wish to think 
of it, and so you thrust it from your 
mind. But it keeps watch of you all 
the same. 

He did not meet a soul on the way, for 
in that place most kept good hours ; and 
those who were not out on ill deeds were 
at home in their beds. A few lights 


THE NIGHT WALK. 


75 


could still be seen, faint and dim, but 
for one house so fharked there were ten 
where all was dark ; and Jack’s step 
grew more firm as he passed them and 
felt sure he should meet no one. 

Mark Snow, near whose barn the boys 
were to meet, owned a fine farm on which 
was the pond I have told you of where 
Jack and Sam went for a boat-row and 
had to put up with a bath. He had a 
lot filled with fruit trees, and these trees 
were full of fruit; so there was a good 
deal to tempt men and boys who were 
not too good to steal. But Mr. Snow 
kept a fierce dog, who was let loose at 
night ; and who, if he once fell on a man, 
would not leave him in doubt as to what 
had hurt him. There was no one in the 
place who did not fear this dog; and the 
fame of him had gone so far that few 
dared to rob the trees which he was set 
to guard. 

A walk of less than half an hour 
brought Jack to the place Balph had 


76 


JACK THORN’S KNIFE. 


named to him, and there he found this 
king of bad boys, with live or six more 
whom he would have liked to teach to be 
as bad as he was. Most of these Jack 
knew by sight; but they came from a 
low set, and he would not have cared to 
be seen on good terms with them in the 
day-time. 

“ Here you are at last !” said Ralph to 
him as he came up. “ Well, now you’ve 
come, we’ll be off.” 

“ Be off. where ?” asked Jack. “ You 
have not told me that yet.” 

“ Oh, for a row on the pond !” said 
Ralph. “You see it’s a line night for it, 
and we’re bound to have some sport.” 

“ But we shall be seen,” urged Jack, 
who thought this a queer way to do 
things by stealth. 

“ No, we sha’n’t ; we shall keep close 
in shore, and be in the shade of the trees 
all the way.” 

“All the way where?” asked Jack, 
who suspected mischief, and who did 


THE NIGHT WALK. 


77 


not like to be kept in the dark, like a 
child. 

“Why, to the end of the pond, of 
course.” 

“ But what’s the use of that, and what 
shall we do when we get there ?” 

“ Now, look here,” said Balph in a 
voice which, though low, was harsh and 
fierce. “ You shut up, or it will be the 
worse for you. I’m boss of this trip, and 
what the rest of you have got to do is 
to mind me and not kick up a row. 
When you’re boss, I’ll do just as you 
say.” 

“ I sha’n’t go a step till I know what 
you mean to do,” said Jack, who was 
full of rage at Balph’s tone. “I shall 
go back, and you may do what you 
like.” 

“ You’ll go back, will you ?” sneered 
Ralph. “ You’ll do no such thing. Boys, 
if he turns tail, you know what to do 
with him. So you think you can come 
out as far as this and spy on us, and 


78 jack thorn’s knife. 

then go back and tell, do you? No, sir- 
ree ! You’re in for it now, and you’ve got 
to stick by the boat, sink or swim.” 

“ Of course I should not tell,” said 
Jack. “ What do you mean by that? 
But I don’t like to be dragged in when 
you won’t tell me what it’s for. That’s 
all I want.” 

“ It’s just what you won’t have,” said 
Ralph. “ We won’t trust you not to tell; 
and now you’re in for it, the best thing 
for you will be to hold your tongue and 
do as you’re told.” 

Jack knew it would be of no use to 
strive, for they were six to one, and all 
in league with Ralph ; so he kept still, 
but made up his mind that they should 
not use his hands to steal, for that was 
what he felt they had come out to do. 

“ Where’s Snow’s big dog ?” he asked 
as they moved off to the edge of the 
pond. 

“ Oh, Bill Smart did his work for him 
two hours back,” said Ralph. “ He gave 


THE NIGHT WALK. 


79 


him a dose that cured his bark once for 
all. Look there !” and in the shade made 
by the barn Jack saw the form of the 
dog stretched stark and stiff on the 
ground. 

“ What! you killed him !” he cried out, 
shocked so that he could scarce frame the 
words. “ Shaihe ! shame on you ! What 
a mean trick ! Poor Bounce !” and he 
stroked the poor dead dog as if he could 
feel the touch. 

“Come, that won’t do,” said Bill Smart, 
a low wretch whom Jack, to use his own 
phrase, “ would not have touched with a 
pair of tongs.” “ Let’s get off quick, 
or this milksop will spoil all our fun. 
Come on !” and the crew set out for the 
pond with Jack in the midst, half pushed, 
half dragged, but forced to keep up with 
the rest. The boat was in its place, and 
a pair of oars lay on the shore near by. 

“ I thought Snow kept his oars locked 
up in the barn ?” said Jack when he saw 
them. 


80 


JACK THORNES KNIFE. 


“So he does,” said one of the boys, 
“ but we found a place where there was 
a plank loose, so we pulled it off, and 
Beanpole went in and got them.” 

This Beanpole was a tall, slim boy 
to whom his mates gave this nick- 
name. He had a mild face, and Jack 
thought did not look quite as bad as 
the rest. 

“What are those bags for?” asked 
Jack, at the sight of some large bags 
made of duck, which were laid on the 
seats to keep them out of the wet. 

“We brought those to tie up spies in,” 
said Balph, with a grim laugh. “ With 
one of those drawn down to your waist, 
and tied tight, you can’t make much 
noise when we chuck you head first into 
the pond.” 

Jack had no fear that he should be 
chucked in the pond, but his whole soul 
loathed the mates he was joined with 
and the work they were bound on. He 
had been weak and had done wrong, no 


THE NIGHT WALK. 


81 


doubt, but he was not so bad as this, 
and he thought he would give a hand or 
an eye to be put back to the time when 
he went to bed that night. 


PAR l 1 IX. 

HOW IT TURNED OUT. 

HE boat kept, as Ralph had said, 
in the shade of the trees, and no 
one said a word on the way. The 
two boys at the oars plied them 
with swift, sure strokes, and made good 
time, though it seemed long to Jack, 
who was half dead with shame at the 
part he was made to play. They passed 
the first lot of trees, from which the fruit 
had been picked, and drew up to land at 
a place where rows of fine pear trees, full 
of fruit, came down to the brink of the 
pond. 

“ Here’s a good deep place,” said one 
as they pushed to the shore. “ Jump 
out now, and I’ll make a hole in her 
that will let her down in no time and 
82 



HOW IT TURNED OUT. 


83 


the young thief seized an axe that had 
been brought for this use, and raised his 
hand for the first blow. 

“ Stop ! quit that !” cried Jack, at the 
sight of this new crime. "Why can’t 
you le^ve it where it is ? What do you 
want to sink it for ?” 

“ Ho ! ho ! what a greenhorn !” said 
Ralph. "A fine thing it would he to 
leave it here to tell tales, and get us 
tracked out ! No, thank you ! Look 
here, boys ! this chap won’t help us, and 
I think we may as well put him out of 
harm’s way first as last. If we don’t, 
he’ll give us leg-bail while we’re spread 
round in the trees, and run back and tell 
Snow, and the first thing we know, back 
he will come and catch us !” 

With this, he gave a wink to Bill 
Smart, who drew out a strong cord, with 
which the two tied Jack’s hands so tight 
that he screamed with pain, and begged 
them to make it more loose ; then they 
made him put his foot in a slip-noose, 


84 


JACK THORN’S KNIFE. 


which they made firm, and then tied the 
end of the rope round Bill's leg, so that 
Jack could not get far off from him. 
The rope was six or eight feet long, and 
Jack had to keep up with Bill and go 
just where he led him. 

For an hour or more the boys worked 
on, till they had filled their bags with 
the ripe fruit, and then Jack hoped they 
would start for home, but their cup of 
sin was not yet full. At the end of the 
lot where the pear trees were, stood a 
small house, or what seemed more like a 
shed, where lived a poor soul who had 
but few of this world's goods, and earned 
what kept her in life by the sale of eggs 
and hens which she raised. She had but 
one child, a poor lame boy, who walked 
with a crutch, and for him she toiled 
night and day, glad of all work by which 
she could eke out her poor fare. To 
her house these vile boys now bent their 
steps. Jack could not but guess what 
they meant to do there, and once more 


HOW IT TURNED OUT. 


85 


lie raised his voice to plead for the poor 
lone thing. 

It was all in vain ; he might as well 
have cried to the winds. They stole 
round the hut to the low shed where she 
kept all her goods, and left not one thing 
which could be of use to her. Ralph 
had climbed up on the roof to see if 
some nests w r ere not hid there in the 
straw; the rest stayed for him to come 
down, when all at once a sound broke in 
on the still night air. It was the voice 
of Mark Snow. 

“ Ah, you knaves ! I’ve caught you at 
it, have I ?” said he, and seized hold of 
Beanpole, who stood near him. This 
youth wrenched his arm out of Snow’s 
grasp, and fled like the wind, while the 
man caught hold of the next one, who 
chanced to be Jack Thorn. Bill, at the 
first sound, had cut the ropes with which 
Jack was tied, and run with all his 
might, as did all the rest. As Jack did 
not try to run, Snow held him fast and 
8 


86 


JACK THORN S KNIFE. 


gave up the rest, who were now out of 
his reach, all but Ralph, of whom we 
have something else to tell. 

When he first heard Snow speak he ' 
was on the roof of the shed, and tried to 
spring to the ground and run, for he was 
fleet of foot, and might have got off. But 
his heel caught in a hole in the roof ; he 
missed his hold and was pitched to the 
ground, where he struck on his head 
with such force as to make him lose all 
sense. He lay there like one dead, and 
as Snow did not go round on that side, I 
he did not know it, for he had seen the 
rest run, and thought they had all gone 
but Jack. So Ralph was left where he 
fell. 

“ You young scamp !” said Snow, who 
kept fast hold of Jack’s arm, and was a ! 
tall, strong man, so that he held him as j 
if in a vice, “ I’m glad I’ve caught you , ' 
though I had to let the rest go. I’ll make 
you smart for this! A fine thing it will 
be to tell of Thorn, the head man in the 


Sark (Efiorn’s Untfe, 



‘ You young scamp !” said Snow, “ I’m glad I’ve caught you.” 

p. 8«. 








































, 





























































































































































- , . . . . 










































































































































































































HOW IT TURNED OUT. 


87 


church, that his son steals fruit and robs 
hen-roosts at night with a lot of the 
worst boys in town. You’ll catch it, sir!” 

“ I did not come to steal,” gasped 
Jack, who could not till now get a chance 
to speak, for so great was the man’s rage 
that his words poured out like a flood. 
“I thought they just came out for fun to 
have a ride in the moonlight, maybe, or 
a row on the pond, and when I found 
that they were up to worse tricks, I tried 
to go back and leave them, but they 
would not let me, and tied up my hands 
and feet, and made me go with them by 
force. I have not touched a thing ; I give 
you my word for it.” 

“ Ha ! ha !” roared Snow, who was not 
a bad man, but whose blood was all up 
now at the wrong done him. “That 
sounds true, don’t it ? Your word ! it’s 
like, now, ain’t it ? Don’t try to gull me 
with your trumped-up tales. I’ll take it 
out of you yet. Come here, Tom,” he 
called to a man who came from the shade 


88 


JACK THORN’S KNIFE. 


of the trees. This man had set out with 
Snow, hut could not keep up with his 
long, swift strides. “ Lay hold of this 
young chap while I teach him how to 
steal my fruit.” 

All Jack’s cries and prayers did him 
no good ; he had a foe to deal with whose 
heart could not he moved ; and Snow, 
who had brought a rawhide with him, 
laid it on the lad’s back till his shrieks 
brought out Mrs. Van Cott from her bed. 

“ Stop, stop, Snow !” she cried when 
she saw them ; “ you’ll kill the boy ! 
For mercy’s sake, stop, or there won’t 
be a whole bone left in his skin !” 

“ You look in your hen-house and see 
what he and his mates have done there 
if you want to know what he’s got to 
catch it for,” said Snow, while he kept 
up his blows just the same. 

“ I don’t care ! You sha’n’t kill him 
while I’m here to look on !” she screamed, 
and clung with her whole weight to his 
right arm, so that he could not use the 


HOW IT TURNED OUT. 


89 


whip. He was tired, too, so lie flung 
poor Jack to the ground with an oath, 
and bid him lie there while he looked 
round to see how much of his fruit he 
could get hold of. 

“ If you stir one step, I’ll shoot you 
dead !” he called out as he moved off. 
“ I’ve got my eye on you.” 

But Jack was in no mood to stir. 
Sore and bruised, faint from pain, and 
crushed by shame, he was glad to be just 
let lie there. He wished he could die on 
the spot ; he felt as if he could not face 
his friends, and thought it would have 
been well for him if Snow had done as 
Mrs. Van Cott had said, and killed him 
where he stood. 

The good wife had a soft heart, and 
could not bear to think of the pain the 
boy was in. She stooped down and laid 
her hand on him, and said : 

“ Come in my house, lad, and rest. 
They’ll not touch you if they see I’m 
with you. Your folks have been so good 
8 * 


90 


JACK THORN’S KNIFE. 


to me I don’t like to see you on the 
ground like a dead dog.” 

“ No, I’ll stay here if you please/’ said 
Jack in a faint voice. “ I don’t want to 
go in the house. Don’t mind me.” 

The men now came back from their 
search. They had found all the bags of 
fruit, for the thieves had to run so fast 
they could take no weight with them ; 
the eggs, too, were all safe, but the necks 
of the fowls were wrung, for fear of noise, 
and but few were left of the fine brood 
that had been nursed with such care. 

“ The Lord will take care of me,” she 
sobbed as she saw the wreck of her goods. 
“He’s good to the poor and lone, and he’ll 
not leave me now.” 

Her voice was choked with tears, and 
Jack was glad when one of the men told 
him to get up and go with them, and 
Snow told Mrs. Van Cott to have a care 
of the fruit till he called for it the next 
day. 


PART X. 



JACK GOES HOME. 

R. SNOW took Jack by the arm, 
and marched him by his side as 
if he were on his way to jail, but 
the boy was too weak and sore to 
care much what was done with him. Each 
step caused him pain, but he made no 
sound, and dragged on as well as he 
could. Snow saw that his lame gait was 
real, and when the first heat of his rage 
had passed off, he made his own steps 
slow, so that Jack got on with more ease. 
The farm-hand left them at the barn, 
and the two kept on their way, for it was 
plain that Snow did not mean to let go his 
hold. 

None of them had seen Ralph, for a 
fence ran close back of the shed, and he 

91 


92 jack thorn’s knife. 

fell on the ground on the outside of this, 
while the bags of fruit and spoil of all 
kinds were found on the side next Mrs. 
Van Cott’s house. The boys had leaped 
the low fence and gone off through the 
woods, and as Snow saw them do this, he 
did not think it worth while to look on 
that side at all, for he knew they must 
be far out of reach. Jack knew no more 
of it than he did, so Ralph was left where 
he fell. 

Jack hoped that Mr. Snow would take 
him to his own gate, and leave him there 
to make his way into the house, but the 
man had not the least thought of this. He 
shut the gate with a loud snap, walked 
straight up to the house, and round to 
the path which led to the front gate. 

“ Look here, Thorn !” he called out in 
a loud voice. “ See what I’ve brought 
you !” And soon Mr. Thorn’s head looked 
out from the sash, and the pale face of his 
wife, in her white cap and gown, was seen 
at his side. 


JACK GOES HOME. 


93 


“ What is it ?” he asked in a maze of 
doubt. Jack’s head was dropped upon 
his breast, so that his face did not show. 

“ Here’s this nice boy of yours I caught 
in my fruit, and at Ma’am Van Cott’s hen- 
house. There were four or five more with 
him, but they ran off, so I took him in 
hand and gave him what will make him 
think of me for some time yet.” 

With this he went off, and did not 
wait for Mr. Thorn to come down and 
take his son. In the hall Jack found 
his poor mother, who threw her arms 
round his neck, and sobbed out, “Oh, 
my son, how could you? how could 
you ?” 

“ I didn’t ! Just wait till you hear me !” 
cried Jack ; and then he told them the 
whole truth, just as it was — how he stole 
off to meet Ralph, when he did not know 
what was to be done, but thought there 
would be some sport; how he tried to 
draw back when he found out their base 
plan, but was forced to go with them; 


94 


JACK THORN’S KNIFE. 


and how he took no part in their theft, 
but tried to do what he could to stop 
them. 

Mr. and Mrs. Thorn both knew that 
their son spoke the truth ; it was not one 
of his faults to tell lies, though he did 
things that were far from right: but they 
could trust his word. Mr. Thorn took 
him by the hand and led him to his own 
room ; his wife would have gone in too, 
but he held her back. “ No more talk 
to-night,” he said. a Go to bed, my son ; 
when we have slept on this it will be 
time to think what ought to be done. 
Kneel down and ask God to blot out 
your sins. I hope what you have gone 
through to-night will save you from more 
shame in time to come.” 

He shut the door, and left Jack, with 
a sore heart and aches in all his bones, 
to get what rest he could. 

The next day Jack found it hard to 
move, his limbs were so stiff and full of 
pain. Mr. Thorn thought he had had 


JACK GO ES HOME. 


95 


all the stripes that were his clue, and did 
no more than talk to him in a grave, sad 
way of his faults, and how he could get 
rid of them. He showed him how all this 
had come from his acts to his good friend, 
Sam Hoyt. 

“If you had not formed a doubt of 
him,” said Mr. Thorn, “ and gone on like 
a fool at the time you lost your knife, 
this state of things could not have come 
to pass. You do not still think him a 
thief, do you ?” 

“ No, sir,” said Jack, with a downcast 
look. “I’m sure he is not. I think 
Ralph has the knife, though I don’t 
know how he got it.” 

“Take care,” said Mr. Thorn. “Do 
not give way to more doubts, which may 
he as false as those were. Keep your 
thoughts in your own mind, and wait till 
something turns up to prove you right. 
If you have no proof, tell no one what 
you think. And now do you know what 
is the first thing you ought to do ?” 


96 


JACK THORN’S KNIFE. 


“ Make up with Sam, sir ?” asked Jack. 

“ Yes,” said Mr. Thorn. “ If Mr. Snow 
had let you go, I should not let a day 
pass till you had been to him and owned 
your fault, for you were all wrong when 
you used his land to meet on, but as he 
took the law in his own hands, you are 
clear of him. But you can’t find Sam 
too soon and tell him how you have 
changed your mind.” 

But Jack had no chance to do this, for 
Sam was then at the gate. He had 
heard of his school-mate’s bad case, and 
came to see how he was. 

The two boys shook hands with all 
their old warmth, and Jack tried to tell 
his friend how he felt at the thought of 
his misdeeds. 

“ Don’t mind that !” said Sam. “ It’s 
all past now, and we won’t think of it. 
But did you know Balph fell from the 
shed and broke his leg last night ?” 

“ Why, no !” said Jack. “ I thought 
he ran off, like the rest.” 


JACK GOES HOME. 


97 


“ No,” said Sam. “ He was on the 
roof when Snow came up, and tried to 
jump off, but his foot caught, and he 
pitched off and struck on his head, and 
that was the last he knew for a long 
time. When he came to, all the rest 
were gone, and he was there on the 
ground, in the field back of the hen- 
house, with his leg all bent up like a bow. 
He tried to get up, but it hurt him 
so he screamed out with the pain, and 
found he could not move, and he had to 
lie there till daylight, when Mrs. Van 
Cott came out to see to her chicks. She 
heard him groan, and had to look round 
a good deal to find out where he was. 
She could not lift him, and he could not 
walk, so she took down two or three 
rails of the fence, and dragged him in, 
with his own help and Jim’s, to the 
house. I tell you what, he had a tight 
pull for his life.” 

“ Where is he now ?” asked Jack. 

“ At his own house. Ma’am Van Cott 

9 G 


98 


JACK THORNES KNIFE. 


went down there as soon as she could 
and told Hale, and he came with a horse 
and cart and took him home. Dr. Wise 
set his leg, but he says he thinks it w T ill 
be hard to cure, for Ralph got chilled 
through on the cold ground, and will 
have a bad time of it. Serves him right, 
though, if he does.” 

Jack did not speak; the thought of 
all that had passed was too much for 
him, and he wished they could talk of 
something else. Sam saw this, and turned 
the talk to school, where they would 
have to go the first of the next week, for 
play -time was done, and they called back 
past times and made plans for times to 
come, till Jack’s heart grew more light, 
and he felt like his old self once more. 


PART XI. 

HELP FOR THE POOR. 

ON’T you think, dear,” said Mr. 
Thorn’s wife to him that day, 
“that we ought to try to do some- 
thing for poor Jane Van Cott? 
That was a great loss to her last night, 
for she has to take her fowls to the shops 
and sell them for what she can get, and 
they were all she had to live by.” 

“ By all means,” said Mr. Thorn. “ I 
think the best way would be for you and 
Grace to go out and see what you can get 
for her in town, and then we can fill up 
with what she needs most. We can spare 
two or three hens, I think, and I will 
draw her a load of wood as soon as I get 
time.” 

So when they had dined, Mrs. Thorn 

99 




100 


JACK thorn’s KNIFE. 


took Grace and Ned, and set out on a 
tramp round town. They did not get 
much, for those who lived there were 
plain folks and had not much to spare, 
but all who were well off gave something, 
and the young ones soon had as much as 
they could lift. 

What Mrs. Thorn thought most of in 
these gifts was the fowls to take the 
place of those which had been killed. 
Mrs. Van Cott knew how to make her 
hens lay eggs all the year round, and 
she sold these at a high price when it 
was cold and they were hard to get. So 
some, who did not care to feed their hens 
and keep them round till spring, gave 
one or two from their store with great 
good-will. Here and there some one 
who had no food or clothes to spare 
gave a ten-cent piece, and Mrs. Thorn 
felt that she was well paid for her day’s 
work. 

The next day Jack and Sam went 
with her to take the things to poor Jane., 


HELP FOR THE POOR. 


101 


It was the last of the week, and as they 
were to go to school in two days more, it 
was well that they should spend their last 
free day in good works. All three had 
as much as they could lift, and it was 
with glad hearts that they stopped at 
Mrs. Van Cott’s door. 

They found her at work on some 
clothes for her boy, whom she taught as 
she sat and sewed. He was too lame to 
go to school, so she made him spell and 
read to her, and do sums on the slate. 
He was a bright boy, and would have 
learned fast if he could have gone to 
school. 

“ Good-day to ye !” said she when 
they came in. “I’m right glad to see 
ye ! It’s not often that I have a call, for 
I live so far out of the way. How’s all 
at home ?” 

“ We’re all well, thank you,” said Mrs. 
Thorn, “ and much pained to hear what 
you lost by those bad boys.” 

“ Yes, it was a loss !” said Jane. “But 

9 * 


102 


JACK THORN’S KNIFE. 


poor Mr. Jack ! Seemed to me I felt 
worse for him than for what they took 
from me. Snow’s a brute, though I say 
it that ought not, for he lets me have 
this cot and piece of land low since my 
man died, and that shows his heart’s not 
so had ; but when I saw him flog your 
boy, I felt as if I could kill him, it made 
me so mad !” 

“ I don’t know that we ought to blame 
him,” said Mrs. Thorn, “ for he thought 
Jack was as bad as the rest, and of course 
he was in a rage when he found that his 
fine fruit was picked and his boat sunk 
in the pond. I dare say Mr. Thorn 
would have done the same in his place. 
He would have thought it was for the 
boy’s good.” 

“ But it wa’n’t for his good to kill him,” 
said Mrs. Van Cott with great warmth, 
“ and that’s what he was bound to do if 
he’d kept on that way. And what do 
you think I found to-day but the ropes 
they had your son tied with, right down 


HELP FOR THE POOR. 


103 


by the hen-house, just where they cut 
them and ran off!” 

“ I’m glad of that,” said Jack. “ Now 
Snow will know that I told him the 
truth when I said so. He would have it 
that I made it all up.” 

“ He was here for the rest of his pears,” 
said Jane, “and I showed them to him. 
Seemed like at first he couldn’t take it 
in, but at last he out and said, ‘ Well, I 
guess the lad spoke the truth.’ And I 
up and spoke out my mind as much as I 
dared, for I can’t risk to be turned out, 
you know.” 

“You must not do that,” said Mrs. 
Thorn. “Don’t mind it now. It will 
be all right, and I don’t think my son 
will give cause for more of such scenes. 
But we must show you what we have 
brought you.” 

The first thing she took out was a nice 
warm suit for Jim, whose clothes were 
thin and poor. These were not fresh 
or new, but they were whole, and would 


104 


JACK THORN’S KNIFE. 


last through all the cold days. At the 
sight of them Jane burst into tears. 

“ The Lord in heaven bless you !” she 
cried. “ If ye’d have tried all through 
the world, ye’d not have found a thing 
I’ve wished for like that. See, Jim ! 
What do ye say for it, now ?” 

“ Thank you, ma’am,” said Jim, who 
was a shy lad, and scarce dared to raise 
his eyes. “ Them’s real nice.” 

“They are not my gift,” said Mrs. 
Thorn, with a smile. “Mrs. Kay gave 
them to me for you, as George had 
grown out of them. They’ll be a nice 
fit, won’t they ?” 

“That they will,” said Jane, “or if 
they don’t, I’ll make ’em. I’ve just been 
at work on these old ones, with a patch 
here and a darn there, but they’ll be 
soon gone, the best I can do. These 
were just what I had most need of for 
the poor child.” 

“ There’s a skirt for you from Mrs. 
Graves, and I put a sack to it and some 


HELP FOR THE POOR. 


105 


scraps that I think you can find use for ; 
old Mrs. Lee has sent you some tea, and 
John Bell says he’ll give you a bag of 
flour, if you can call there for it, and 
here’s a small purse we’ve made up for 
you. Now the boys must show you what 
they’ve got out of doors.” 

When Mrs. Van Cott saw the fine lot 
of fowls, she was wild with joy. “The 
Lord is good to me !” she said. “ I knew 
he would be ! He’s raised me up such 
good friends as I ought not to he faint 
of heart. How can I thank ye ? Seems 
as if words wa’n’t no use !” 

“ Oh, don’t thank us at all !” said Mrs. 
Thorn, in her sweet, kind voice. “ In 
the first place, you know the things are 
not from us ; we begged all but a few of 
them from our friends.” 

“ It’s all the same !” said Jane. “ If 
it had not been for you, I’d not have got 
them. It’s you that’s done it all.” 

“I’m glad I had the chance,” said 
Mrs. Thorn. “Now there’s one thing 


106 


JACK THORNES KNIFE. 


more. Mr. Thorn says he’ll draw a load 
of wood for you as soon as he has time, 
and I think I know two young men who 
will come and cut it up some day, when 
they have spare time on hand.” 

“Oh yes!” said both the boys in a # 
breath. “ And we’ll bring up that bag 
of flour for you,” said Sam, “ some time 
to-day. You won’t need to go for it.” 

“ All I can say is, the Lord bless ye !” 
said Jane. “He’ll pay it back to ye 
some way, for I’m sure I can’t.” 

On their way home they met Mr. 
Snow, who jumped off his horse when 
he came near them 

“ Good-day, Mrs. Thorn,” said he. 
“I’ve felt bad since I found Jack was 
tied up by those rogues, as he said, and 
had no hand in their work. But you 
must own I had ground for what I did, 
when I found him there with them, my 
dog killed, and my boat sunk, and my 
pears all packed in bags, to be snaked 
off if I had not got there just as I did !” 


HELP FOR THE POOR. 


107 


“ I don’t know that we can blame you, 
Mr. Snow,” said she, in a grave, calm 
tone. “ Of course we could have wished 
you to wait till you had more proof, 
when our son told you how it was that 
he was there.” 

“ I’ll leave it to any man in town,” 
said Snow, “to say if I was not right, 
when I found a pack of thieves on my 
land, to catch and whip the first one I 
could find. How could I know that 
what he said was true? The case was 
clear as daylight, as far as I could see.” 

“ Well, we’ll not talk of it now,” said 
Mrs. Thorn. “ It’s all past, and I hope 
my son will know how to choose his 
friends from this time, so that he will 
not be charged with what he has not 
done. Have you caught the thieves 
yet?” 

“ Some of them, and we shall get the 
rest. As for that scamp Ralph, it’s a 
chance if he’s out of bed these six 
months. It’s a bad case, they say.” 


108 jack thorn’s knife. 

Jack felt sad to hear this, for he had 
been much with Ralph for the past three 
or four months, and knew that he had 
his good points as well as bad ones. He 
did not care to see him, but wished to 
know how he got on, and Sam said he 
would go and ask, and see what could be 
done for him. 


PART XII. 


RALPH AT HOME. 



jjHE next day, when church was 


J? done, Sam went down to where 
Hale lived, to ask how his son 
was. Ho one in town liked this 
man, who was what they called “ a hard 
case,” and it was not strange that his son 
should turn out one of the same sort. 
Black Hale (as he was called from his 
dark skin, though he had a good name 
of his own) did not work more than 
half the time, so, as might be looked 
for, his wife went in rags, and his sons 
walked in his steps. 

His house was in a mean part of the 
town, where there were more of his own 
kind, and you could see by the looks of 
the place that none of them had been to 


10 


109 


110 


JACK THORN’S KNIFE. 


church that day. Dirt and rags were 
the chief sights; rough men and boys 
lounged on door-steps, or lay on beds 
which were not yet made up, while the 
women and girls, in torn and soiled 
clothes, moved with slow steps, as if they 
were dull and tired, and felt no spring 
in them to do their work. 

Black Hale sat on a bench at his door. 
He had black hair, black eyes, a thick 
black beard, black hands (made so by 
want of soap), and smoked a black pipe. 
He gave a slight nod as Sam went up to 
the house through a gate which hung by 
one hinge, and by a path strewn with 
scraps of stone-ware, bones, and dirt of 
all kinds. 

“How’s Ralph to-day?” asked Sam, 
in his strong, clear voice. “Can I see 
him ?” 

“ He’s much the same,” said Hale. “ I 
s’pose you can see him if you’ve a mind 
to go in.” 

Sam did go in, and saw the sick boy 


RALPH AT HOME. 


Ill 


at the first glance, for there was but one 
room in the house. He was in bed, and 
Mrs. Hale stood near him, her eyes red 
and swelled, for she was fond of her bad 
boy. Ralph turned his eyes on Sam, 
but did not speak. 

“How do you feel to-day ?” asked 
Sam, when he had said good-day to Mrs. 
Hale. “Bad, eh?” 

“Yes,” said Ralph, in a faint tone. It 
was strange to see the great, strong, 
rough boy brought so low as this. His 
head and hands were hot, his face flushed, 
and his eyes too bright, for health. He 
tossed his arms and head from side to 
side of the bed, but could not move his 
legs, for the right one was bound up in 
splints, and had to be kept still, and in 
one position. 

“ Give me a drink, will you ?” said he, 
and Mrs. Hale sprang to do as he asked. 
Sam took the glass and put it to his lips, 
and raised up his head with the left 
hand. Ralph took a sip and fell back, 


112 jack thorn’s knife. 

with a look on his face as if his pain were 
too great to be borne. 

“What is there I can do for him?” 
said Sam, whose soft heart ached at the 
sad sight. “ I wish you’d tell me if you 
think he can be helped.” 

“ I wish I had some ice,” groaned 
Ralph. “ Seems as if it would feel good 
on my head. It’s so hot all the time.” 

“I’ll try if I can get some for you 
from De Bow,” said Sam. “ I don’t 
think he’s out of it yet, and I know he’ll 
give me some if I ask him.” 

He saw he could be of no more use, 
and rose to go. “ I’ll come back as soon 
as I can get the ice,” said he to Mrs. 
Hale. 

“ Like as not he won’t want it when it 
comes,” she said, “ he’s so full of whims. 
But if he thinks he will, it’s all the same.” 

There was no hope in her tone ; each 
word seemed to drop from her mouth 
like lead. Sam tried to cheer her up, 
but she shook her head. 


RALPH AT HOME. 


113 


“ There’s no good in one on ’em,” she 
said. “ They’re all bound to come to 
grief, soon or late. I tell Hale so, and I 
tell the boys so, but it don’t do no good. 
They’ve all got to come to it.” 

“ Don’t you think that, Mrs. Hale,” 
said Sam. “ Just you wait, and see how 
bright Ralph will come out when he gets 
out of bed this time. You won’t know 
him for the same boy, he’ll be so good !” 

She smiled at this — a sort of half 
smile, as if the sun should try to peep 
out when his face was so veiled in clouds 
that he could not quite make it out. 
Sam laughed, and told her that her son 
would show a good face in the world yet. 

He could not go to De Bow till he had 
been home, for his aunt would wait lunch 
for him, and she liked him to be prompt. 
When he told her where he had been, 
she said she was glad of it, and would 
send Ralph some nice things to eat as 
soon as Dr. Wise said he could have 
them. 

10 * ' H 


114 


JACK THORN’S KNIFE. 


There was but one ice-house in the 
place, and this was owned by a man who 
kept the ice for sale. Sam went to him 
at once, for he knew that it was no sin to 
do good works on the Lord’s day. 

He found, as he thought, that all the 
folks had done with ice for that fall, and 
that there was some still left in the ice- 
house. He asked if he could have a 
small piece for Ralph. 

“ I’ll pay for it,” said he, for he knew 
it would cost but a few cents, and he had 
that sum of his own. But De Bow said 
he did not want pay. 

“I don’t know that there’s a boy in 
town I’d trust but you,” said he, “ to go 
and take out the ice. But I know y6u 
won’t waste it, and you’ll take just what 
you need and no more, and you’ll bring 
the key safe back to me when you’ve 
done with it.” 

“ Yes,” said Sam, “ I’ll do all that.” 

“ Then you can have what Ralph needs 
as long as he’s sick,” said the man. “ If 


RALPH AT HOME. 


115 


I’m not here, my wife will give you the 
key. I know I can trust you.” 

Sam thanked him, and took a small 
lump of ice down to Ralph’s house at 
once. Mrs. Hale said she would take 
great care of it, and wrap it up in cloths, 
so that it should not waste. The next 
day, when school was done, Sam took 
his way once more to the same place. 

“ He ha’n’t had e’er a thing yet,” said 
Mrs. Hale, “ that’s done him so much 
good as that there ice. I keep it to his 
head all the time, ’most, and when a 
piece melts he wants more right straight 
off. And the doctor says it’s the best 
thing for him, too.” 

Ralph was ill a long time, for his hurt 
had been far more than the harm done 
to his leg. That was the least part of it. 
Some of the time he was quite out of his 
head, and would rave all the while, and 
talk as if that night had come back, and 
he had to act it all once more. 

Jack went to see him now and then, 


116 


JACK THORN’S KNIFE. 


and took him things he liked, for he 
would not leave him now he was down, 
he said. But not a day passed that Sam 
did not go and sit with him as long as he 
could, and do all in his power to make 
the time seem less sad. 

At last all this took hold of Ralph’s 
heart. He saw what a good thing it was 
to be just and kind, and he felt that he 
could not do too much for Sam, who had 
done so much for him. So one day he 
said to him, 

“ Just reach me that box from the 
shelf, will you ?” 

Sam gave it to him, and he took from 
it the long-lost knife and put it in his 
hand. 

“ There !” said he. “ That’s off my 
mind now. I was in Thorn’s wood-shed 
the day you and Jack went up to the 
pond, and I saw it down in the chips. 
No one was near there, so I just marched 
off with it, for I thought it was a nice 
one, and I’d like to have it, and that if 


RALPH AT HOME. 


117 


J ack had left it there he could not think 
much of it. But then he thought you 
took it, and since you’ve been so good to 
me I can’t keep it from you, so there 
it is.” 

Sam’s heart leaped for joy at this, and 
he wrung Ralph’s hard hand with all his 
might. “ I’ll take it straight to Jack,” 
said he. 

“ Yes, I wish you would,” said Ralph, 
“and tell him I don’t mean to be on 
such jobs as that when I get well. I’ll 
try to turn round and act on the square, 
and maybe I’ll hold up my head with 
the best of you yet.” 

We need not tell the kind words Sam 
said to him, nor how, when Ralph did 
get well, he was as good as his word, and 
turned back frorti his bad ways and grew 
up to be an excellent man. But we must 
go with Sam when he takes back the 
knife to his friend. 


PAET XIII. 

GOOD-BYE. 

HE Thorns were all at tea when 
Sam got there, and he walked in 
where they were and sat down 
with them. 

“ I have something for you, Jack,” said 
he — “ something you’ll like, too. Guess 
what it is.” 

“I’m sure I don’t know,” said Jack. 
“ There are such lots of things I’d like 
that I can’t tell which one it is.” 

“I know,” said Grace, “it’s a new 
book.” 

“ No, it’s a pair of skates,” said Ned. 

“ What do you guess, Ruth ?” 

“ Gum-drops,” said Ruth, who thought 
few things as nice as this kind of sweets. 

“ What do you say, Dot ? What have 
118 



GOOD-BYE. 


119 


I got here for Jack that he’ll like, oh, so 
much ?” 

“ If it’s somefing weal good,” said Dot, 
who grew more wise from day to day, “I 
fink it must be a knife.” 

“ Dot’s found it out !” cried Sam. “ She 
knows more than you all. Look here, 
Jack!” and he held up the knife where 
all could see it. 

“ Where did you get it?” asked Jack. 
“ That’s the last thing I thought to see 
you bring out. I had it in my mind, 
too, but I wouldn’t say so.” 

Then Sam told how Ralph gave it to 
him, and what he said, and they were all 
pleased to hear such good news, though 
Jack felt a hot flush come on his face 
when he thought of what he had said 
that day. 

“ I’ll keep an eye on Ralph,” said Mr. 
Thorn, “ and if he does try to mend, I’ll 
help him on all I can. You may tell 
him, Sam, that when he gets well I’ll 
try to find some work for him.” 


120 JACK thokn’s knife. 

From this time Jack began to save 
up his spare cash in a way that his 
young friends had not known him do till 
now. Mr. Thorn gave him small sums 
from time to time, and these he had been 
used to spend with a free hand. But 
now, when he got a few cents, off they 
went to his cash-box, and he left his 
purse at home, for fear something would 
tempt him to spend what he did not 
want to. 

Now and then, when Grace or Ned 
would ask what he meant to do with all 
this, he would say, “ You’ll see ; I shall 
put it to a good use,” and would tell 
them no more. 

“ What will he do with it all ?” said 
Ned to Grace one day. “ He’s got, oh, 
I don’t know how much locked up in his 
box.” 

“ I fink he’ll buy a knife wiz it,” said 
Hot, who had made such a good guess the 
first time tnat she thought she would try 
the same one now. And then she went to 


GOOD-BYE. 


121 


put her doll Mug to bed in her own crib, 
where Mug lay quite still all night. One 
day Grace saw her take a small switch 
and strike Mug with it four or five 
times. “ What’s that for, Dot ?” she 
asked. “ Mug been bad to-day ?” 

“ Not to-day, but las’ night,” said 
Dot. “She cried and screamed so she 
kept me ’wake mos’ all night. And I 
mus’ whip her, so she won’t do so ’gain.” 

“ Poor Mug !” said Grace. “ If you 
were whipped as much as she is, what a 
good girl you’d be, Dot !” 

“ No,” said Dot, with a shake of her 
head that made the curls fly like leaves 
in a high wind. “It’s good for Mug, 
but it’s not good for me.” 

“Not when you pull the cork out of 
the inkstand, and tip all the ink out on 
your new dress, and throw the hair-brush 
in the stove, and hide the door-key where 
no one can find it?” 

“ You mustn’t talk of dose fings,” said 
Dot. “I’m a gweat big girl now, and 
11 


122 


JACK THORNES KNIFE. 


know how to ’have good. Mother says 
she won’t punch me when I don’t mean 
to be bad.” 

Dot meant punish, but “ punch” was 
as near as she could get to it. 

When it came near the end of the 
year, school was let out for a week, so 
that all could play, and Mrs. Thorn said 
that now would be a good time to give 
Jim Van Cott some fun. So one day, 
when Mr. Thorn did not need the horse, 
Jack took it to Jane’s house, and brought 
the lame boy back with him, and a fine 
time they had. 

The girls swung him in the great 
swing, showed him their books and play- 
things, and gave him some to take home 
with him, for they had been taught to 
share what they had with those who 
were not so well off. All this made him 
so gay he seemed like a new boy. At 
first he felt shy, but this soon wore off, and 
by the time he went home he was on the 
best of terms with them all. Then he 


GOOD-BYE. 


123 


had some nice things to take home, so 
this must be marked as one of the bright 
days of his life. 

“ Mother,” said Dot when he had 
gone, “ what makes Jim go this way ?” 
and she limped round on her small fat 
feet, as much like him as she could. 

“ He was always lame, dear,” said 
Mrs. Thorn. “He was born so. I’m 
glad that Dot has two stout legs to run 
on, so that she need not limp like poor 
Jim.” 

Dot thought a while with a grave face, 
and the next time Mug was seen she had 
one leg pinned up, to make it shorter than 
the good one. 

“What did you do that for, Dot?” 
asked Ned when he saw the doll. 

“ Mug was borned so,” said Dot. “ She’s 
been lame all her life. When she gets 
well, so she can walk ’bout, I shall send 
her to school.” 

She had heard the rest say that Jim 
could not go to school for this cause. 


124 


JACK THORN S KNIFE. 


When the last day of the year had 
come, Jack took out his cash-box and 
put what was in it in his purse. Then 
he went to a shop where they sold jack- 
knives, and bought one with four blades, 
just like his own. At night he laid this 
on the chair by the side of his bed, so 
that he might think of it as soon as he 
waked. He was up at daybreak, and 
soon made his way, knife in hand, to 
Sam Hoyt’s door. 

There was no one down but Sam’s 
aunt, Miss Grant. Jack put the knife 
in her hand, and said, “ Please give that 
to Sam when he comes down, with my 
love, and tell him it is a New Year’s 
gift from me.” 

We must now take leave of our young 
friends, for we have not room to tell 
more of what they did. We will hope 
that as they have gone on in life they 
have joined heart and hand in all the 
good deeds that lay in their path. And 
with this hope we will bid them good-bye. 




« 




























































































4 











































■i .■? 























































































































































































































, 








/ 





















































































































1 


















• 














1 • 











* 




\ 

































































* 


bL*- 



















. 

- 


















































































































